17 June 2016 | 14.00 | ISCAP
ABSTRACT
The paper presents results of the research project on the role of remembrance narratives in the process of the reconstruction of state and society during democratization. The comparative study includes six different cases: Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Poland, South Africa and Spain, and it uses them as a basis for the analysis of the use of remembrance during post-authoritarian transitions. It offers research evidence that enables us to understand how the government’s remembrance policy can be used as a powerful tool for the transformation of state and society, and it presents democratization and the reconstruction of national identity from a new perspective. Moreover, it proves that political science is able to answer the question how a government transforms remembrance narratives into pillars of a democratic society, and it identifies the sources of differences among transitional policies and their impact on citizens. It presents the results with reference to eight research categories:
1. The legitimization of new elites,
2. The justification of the presence of former elites,
3. The transitional justice,
4. The explanation of social costs of transformation,
5. The adaptation of new social and political standards,
6. The presentation of symbolic roles of democratization,
7. The justification of national unity,
8. The legitimization of state’s new identity in international relations.
The paper discusses these spheres of remembrance policy and it discusses main similarities and differences between cases. Finally, it presents models of the relationships between the transitional government’s remembrance policy, identity politics and democratization.
Biographical Notes
Dr. Patryk Wawrzyński – researcher at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland), visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the Siauliai University (Lithuania) and the Babes-Bolyai University (Romania), research interests: the government’s remembrance policy and collective memory.
Prof. Dr. Joanna Marszałek-Kawa – Director of the Department of Polish Political System at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland), research interests: comparative parliamentarism and democracy.
Dr. Anna Ratke-Majewska – researcher at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland), lecturer at the Higher School of Democracy in Grudziadz (Poland), research interests: collective memory and democratization in Latin America.